Most of these sources are Anti-Islam propaganda. How do you expect me to take a source that repeatedly says ''murderous Mohammed'' seriously? How can you, as a Muslim accept that as truth?
If you believe them, you are arguing that Islam itself is violent and oppressive - in which case there can be no agreement here and you should stop arguing, since, firstly, it goes against Islamic texts and secondly because I will never accept that what groups like ISIS preach is actually Islam.
As for the actual rights of non-Muslims under Islam and the Rashidun Caliphs:
Muslims Together : On Religious Tolerance - Hazrat Umar RA
Rights of Non-Muslims in Islam
Well, that aggravates the problem entirely. Something that is evil, bad in secret is also bad publicly.
No, it doesn't. It prevents it from being abused by people accusing others for nefarious purposes. Obviously, Islam maintains that the act is evil.
This 4 witness thing is just strange
It isn't, at all. It is perfectly logical.
it is one of the main reasons why the conviction rate for rapists in Pakistan is next to none. As the burden of PROOF for rape is put on the victim itself:
Zero-conviction rate for rape: Senator proposes constitutional changes - The Express Tribune
Not this again. I have refuted this constantly parroted point multiple times.
The four witnesses requirement exists only when someone is accused of zina, i.e fornication. It does not apply to rape cases when a person is claiming that he/she was forced to have intercourse.
It is based on this verse:
‘’ Those that
defame honorable women and
cannot produce four witnesses shall be given eighty lashes. And do not accept their testimony ever after, for they are great transgressors’’ (
Al-Noor-24:4).
As you can see, it was clearly intended to protect women from slander and accusations of adultery.
For a detailed argument:
The Woman and the Islamic Law (Part 2/2) - Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
Now, if Pakistan's molvis don't have the brain to realize that, that's their fault, not Islam's.
Is it 'BS' that secular states allow alcohol and fornication? No, it isn't.
I live in modern liberal democracy with relaxed laws for homosexuality since the 90's, yet the number of LGBT people haven't grown over the years.
Can the same be said about the number of alcoholics, the number of children born outside wedlock, the number of teenage pregnancies, or the number of numerous other such things? This argument isn't about LGBTs.
No one, yes I tell you again, no one "encourages" such practices here.
Are you saying that nobody in Western secular countries encourages practices like drinking alcohol and having intercourse outside wedlock?
If you are heterosexual, its fine. If you turn out to be homo, then its fine as well. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I am not sure its encouragement, rather its equal treatment between groups of people with different sexual orientations.
But in a religious governed state, I don't need to tell what happens if you are found to be LGBT, be it Christian or even Jewish law governed state. In Israel the conservative Jews spit on LGBT people, despite the secular state protecting them. In Iran, gays are hanged through cranes. Get the idea why a religious state is bad?
Like I said, this isn't an argument about LGBTs, so let's not make it one.
But i'll give you the Islamic perspective anyways: two people of the same gender can not get married. Therefore, they can not have homosexual intercourse because it would be classed as fornication. But obviously if two homosexuals do decide to have intercourse, anyone accusing them of that would have to provide four witnesses.
And it commands no penalty, other than that for fornication, provided that they actually commit the act.
Mainstream Islam as it has evolved for the past 1400 years...
You mean the interpretations of mainstream scholars. Fine, that's fine - you can criticize and challenge them, and anyone labeling you anything for doing so is wrong according to Islam because Takfir is Haram.
That's another major problem. Many sects of Islam consider each other heretics, blasphemers, infidels. I am not sure they would ever agree on the basics when they have big problem agreeing fasting and eid days?
All of them have something in common, all that is required is honest discussion.
The fasting and Eid days argument has nothing to do with this. That is about the methodology of determining whether it is Eid or not when the moon isn't visible. It is an unnecessary complication, and it is creating division among Muslims, but if you were to examine the different sects' opinions on that, you'd see that it has less to do with sects.
The methodology, or a system of methodologies that caters to all Muslims in all locations, can be decided through discussion.
Therefore, it is also futile to expect that a group of religious scholars will be able to get together and agree upon a common core any time soon as
@TankMan hoped for above.
I provided a proposal for a solution. Obviously it is futile to just sit on it and hope it'll happen. By that logic I could say that secularism is impractical because we can't expect Pakistani politicians to just suddenly decide to implement it.
Initiative is needed. Just like you would need an initiative to implement secularism, you also need an initiative to make religious scholars get together and agree on a common core.
But it is perfectly possible and practical.
Saying it is ''futile to expect it'' is a very fallacious way of dismissing a perfectly valid solution.